T. S. Stribling

“ THERE was no moon. The conformation of the lava lay uncertain in the starlight. The colporteur walked toward the mules playing his light in front of him. It illuminated the burned ground for twelve or fifteen feet, then faded into darkness. Lassiter shivered from the chill. Presently the three dark figures behind the spurt of light could see the bulk of two mules lying down.
By this time all unusual sounds had died down. Lassiter was inclined to get back to his blankets. But with a countryman's persistence, Birdsong stood switching his light here and there, looking for the third mule. ”

“ Lassiter was too wary to be led into the discussion.
“Brother Nunes, I wouldn't shake a leg in 'Cotton-Eye Joe' or 'Turkey in the Straw,' not for all the filthy pleasure this world can hold.”
Nunes lit his cigaret and inhaled luxuriously.
“Señor Birdsong,” he said, in a muffled voice, talking the smoke out of his mouth and nostrils, “if you really could dance, you would not be so prejudiced against it. That is always the way. Fat men dislike the fandango; stiff men abominate the waltz; awkward men——”
“Look here, Brother Nunes, when I say I can dance, I can dance.” ”

“ From what the agent could gather, Birdsong believed that the abyss and the mysterious light were created by the Supreme Being for the single and particular purpose of rebuking his ungainly antics.
Such vast and unconscious egotism amazed Lassiter. He tried to show the colporteur the infinite disparity between a man's ephemeral tenure of life and the ageless foundations of the earth. ”

“ Birdsong turned his light in this direction and peered into the darkness.
The three stood for several moments, listening, trying to locate the lost mule when with a sense of relief Lassiter saw the animal's eyes shining some fifty feet back toward their camp. He pointed it out.
“Now we got to round it up careful,” cautioned the Arkansan. “A mule's a plumb fool at night. We don't want it loping off that clift. We better spread out and git between it and the jump-off.” ”

“ Birdsong was undressed and evidently had been in bed. Now he leaned down and whispered to Lassiter that something was bothering the mules.
The Stendill agent got to attention with difficulty and after some blinking reflection managed to inquire what the mules were bothered about.
The man from Yell did not waste speech, but aroused Nunes by flashing the light in his face. The Colombian sat up suddenly, gasping out—
“Señores, she is innocent—do not imagine——”
The Arkansan hustled his companions
into their faculties and bade them listen outside. The men listened. ”

“ Birdsong stopped as abruptly as he began, dripping with sweat. His thick-barreled chest heaved. For a moment he stood staring at his audience of two.
“Señor Birdsong,” began the Colombian, “that was a—an unusual dance, a remarkable——”
He broke off because Birdsong's face underwent a queer change. The colporteur whitened under his sweat. ”

“ With this friendly task, the Stendill agent shook off somewhat his feeling of the abnormous. He and Birdsong put up the tent, unrolled the bedding and picked up wood for a camp-fire while Nunes tethered the mules and gathered grass for their provender. ”

“ It would soon instate itself in the world's imagination as one of those obligatory tours, such as the Alps, the Yosemite, the Pyramids, the Grand Cañon, Stratford on Avon, which all real personages perform, thereby dispersing any doubt as to their culture. ”